Somerset police hunt driver who hit man in wheelchair and fled

While his family and town citizens mourn the loss of well-known and well-liked James “Jimmy” Moore, killed when a hit-run driver struck his motorized wheelchair Friday night on Read Street, police continue the search for the owner of a dark-colored 1998 or 1999 Toyota Avalon.

While his family and town citizens mourn the loss of well-known and well-liked James “Jimmy” Moore, killed when a hit-run driver struck his motorized wheelchair Friday night on Read Street, police continue the search for the owner of a dark-colored 1998 or 1999 Toyota Avalon.

Moore, 65, had spent several hours at the Louis A. Colon AmVets Post 72 on Brayton Avenue, where his brother Dan was DJ for a clamboil. He left the AmVets post and was found barely a half-mile away after an 11:43 p.m. emergency call.

A wake for the lifelong town resident, who lived an active life despite being born with cerebral palsy, will be held Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m. at Grace Gospel Church, 271 Sharp’s Lot Road, Swansea.

“He was a communicant of the church for at least 20 years. They loved him, and he loved them,” said his brother Ray Moore of Somerset.

Authorities erected electronic signs Monday afternoon on Brayton Avenue and Riverside Avenue describing the suspected vehicle’s age and model and asking the public to contact the Somerset Police Department at 508-679-2138 with any information.

“We’re working extremely actively with our investigation, along with State Police. We’ve tracked down a lot of leads,” Chief Joseph Ferreira said.

Investigators have visited Toyota dealerships with the gray-colored front lower grill and fog light assembly from the passenger side they found at the scene at Southway Drive, 100 yards from South Elementary School.

Ferreira said they’ve narrowed the search to those years of the luxury sedan. The investigation is headed by Capt. Glenn Neto.

“We’ve visited people that own that type of car,” Ferreira added. “We’re trying to track down whatever we can.”

No witnesses have come forward, and police did not have a suspect as of Monday.

Several bundles of artificial flowers were placed by a utility pole in the hot sun, and orange paint showed markings on the pavement made by a State Police reconstruction unit on the south side of Read Street with street lamps.

A thin, footlong divot in the road is closest to Southway Drive, and there’s a marking on the grass, which police said indicated was where Moore was found.

Moore was declared dead barely an hour later at 12:55 a.m. in the trauma unit of Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, police said.

Moore lived the early part of his life in a North Street home with his parents and three younger siblings, brothers Dan and Ray of Somerset and sister, Maryellen Dutra of Dighton.

The incident occurred a quarter-mile from where he lived for the past 23 years as a resident of Murphy Village, well-kept housing for disabled and elderly people run by the Housing Authority, Executive Director Lucia Casey said.

Page 2 of 3 - “He loved music. He loved to be part of all the activities. His biggest love was the Red Sox,” Casey said.

It’s been awhile since the late Russ Gibson, a Fall River native, started at catcher for the Red Sox, but he was a central part of Jimmy Moore’s life for decades.

In 1966, when he was 18 years old, he sent out letters asking people to join the club to honor Gibson, charging 25 cents for membership.

His reward in that “Impossible Dream” year of 1967, when Carl Yastrzemski led the Sox to the World Series, was when the Russ Gibson Fan Club president joined a group from the Fall River Chamber of Commerce that went to Fenway Park for a day to honor Gibson. Moore, then 19, was photographed throwing out the first pitch to Gibson, a ball that all the Red Sox players later signed.

“I attended myself. I was like 10 years old,” Ray Moore recalled. “It was quite a day.”

Gibson had found out about the fan club near his hometown, and he contacted Moore. Ray Moore said when Gibson moved to Swansea, the popular catcher stayed in touch with one of his biggest fans until he died in 2008.

His younger brother described what an independent person Jimmy Moore was using his motorized chair.

“He knew everybody, at Chili’s, Gus’s Pizza, the auto parts store, and they all loved him and treated him well,” Ray Moore said.

Casey said one day she’d see him at CVS, another time at Ocean State Job Lot. She’d always urge him to be careful, she said.

“His independence was everything. In his mind, he was not disabled,” Ray Moore said.

Both Casey and Ray Moore said Jimmy Moore had a new wheelchair that was not equipped with lights, like his older model that had recently needed replacement. There were flags and reflectors on his new chair, but not the lights.

Police said they have not concluded which direction both the vehicle and wheelchair were traveling. Lt. Thomas Mello said they know the wheelchair — which Ferreira described as “crushed” — was hit in the back by the front of the car.

Ray Moore, knowing how his brother traveled around town, said Jimmy Moore would have been on the side opposite the school, facing traffic.

While on that side there are street lamps, Mello noted the one closest to where the accident happened is not working.

Looking for an explanation for why the rear of the wheelchair would have been hit while traveling toward the traffic, Ray Moore said, “I believe he probably saw the car coming and turned.”

Page 3 of 3 - State Police said it would likely be a few weeks before they issued an accident reconstruction report to police.

The younger brother did not want to talk much about the accident.

However, in the early morning when he found out Jimmy Moore had died in the road late at night he experienced traumatic emotions.

“When I was notified, I was talking with my wife for probably an hour. I felt bad for the person that hit him, because whoever did that was going to have to live with this for the rest of his life,” he said.

When he saw Capt. Stephen Moniz, the officer “turned to me and said, ‘Ray, we’re going to get this person.’

“I was so set back,” Ray Moore said. He said he had to walk away and collect himself. “Now it turned from compassion for the person to outrage.”